While some may say that having children is a biological imperative, others could argue that being a “childless cat lady” makes it easier to achieve greatness. After all, childless adults include the likes of billionaire Taylor Swift. Childless women may, in fact, have more time, energy, and resources to do as they please—including launch a brilliant career in politics, especially given that we live in a society where women are often saddled with the bulk of childcare.

To learn more about what it means to be childless in America right now, Pew Research released a study on Thursday looking at U.S. adults who don’t have children. Researchers surveyed over 2,500 adults over the age of 50 who don’t have children, and 770 adults between the ages of 18 and 49 who don’t have children, to gain insight into how childlessness impacts someone’s life.

(Alas, the data does not include anything about cat ownership, but it does cover gender gaps). Here are the key highlights.

• The why gap: Overall, younger adults are more likely to skip having children because they wanted to channel their energy into other pursuits or simply can’t afford it. Around 44% of younger adults said they didn’t have children because they wanted to focus on other things compared to 21% of older adults, and 36% of younger adults said they couldn’t afford to raise a child, compared to 12% of older adults.
• The impact: Both groups agreed that they have more time and resources to funnel into work, hobbies, and socializing. Younger respondents (61% versus 44%) were more likely to say this helped them be successful in their careers. While 45% in the younger group and 35% older group said they had more time to network, overall a third said they were also given more responsibilities and less flexibility compared to parents.
• The gender gap: For older adults, 50% of women said being childless made it easier to be successful in their careers compared to 39% of men. In addition, 42% of women 50 or older said they felt pressure to have children compared to 27% of men. Younger women (41%) are more likely than younger men (26%) to say that discussing whether or not to have children comes up in conversation with friends.  

The report’s authors also noted that among working women, childless women earned higher salaries ($4,232 a month) compared to mothers ($3,407). For men, the opposite is true—fathers earn more ($5,292 versus $4392).

The data illustrates that we live in an unequal society: Childless fathers still earn more than childless mothers on average. For women in particular, given how entrenched sexism is, being a childless cat lady might be the best road forward for excelling at one’s career.